--=-Chapter 8: What's the Punchline?--=-

My feet dragged as I walked out of the hospital to return to the patrol car. I was leaving behind my best chance at an ally yet. Maebe was far from ready to team up, but she'd at least stopped panicking at my mere presence. With effort, I might even get her to play the charades version of 20 Questions. She probably wouldn't have any answers; even if she did, my mind was still on Nia back in the patrol car.

I quailed inwardly. I didn't want to see another dead body torn apart by one of those creatures. But I needed to know, to be sure, so I girded my will.

The automatic doors closed softly behind me as I walked out. The glowing haze blanketed the world in a green shimmer that limited sight and muffled sound. My canine ears twitched; the eerie fog of the parking lot was still, quiet, and laden with unknown dangers. I could make out the outline of the patrol car across the silent parking lot, but not with enough detail to confirm my suspicions.

I'd have to get closer, but fear gripped me, and my chest tightened.

I took a slow, deep breath to calm myself as I peered into the green haze. I'd survived the monster in the hospital for once, but I didn't feel relief. If I was in a time loop, then not only was this victory temporary, but it also came with a steep cost.

I considered what had happened, what I knew.

The lowering vortex barrier, Titus vanishing beyond its boundary, the glowing webs of light that killed us, presumably that was all the first loop. It was my best explanation since we weren't corpses on the blacktop.

The next loop, Jon was gone, and the back of the car was empty; he and Nia had vanished somehow, leaving me alone. Considering that I was a glowing blue wolf-man, it wasn't all that surprising.

That loop ended when I'd gone into the hospital looking for Jon and answers—but only found Maebe's unrecognizable corpse. I knew nothing about Maebe or why she was still around when the vortex touched down, but presumably, she'd been killed by the "Slender Hopper" since it took me out next.

Nia appeared before I died, but she'd been changed; she had horns, wings, and surprising strength. She also seemed to have some insight into what was happening, more than I did, anyway.

Then I woke up back in the car to start a third loop.

For reasons well beyond me, Nia was in the back of the car again. She was no longer sporting horns and wings, and rather than being fearless, she was absolutely terrified.|

Then again, she was trapped in the back of the patrol car with another glowing monster; fear was the correct response.

I hadn't been sure what was happening, what was real, and it led me to get killed by Slender Hopper again, but I was actually a bit proud I took it out first. It was a small victory, but not an empty one. As I'd faded, I found a crystal inside its body, like a real-life monster core, and my hand reached out for it by instinct.

Then, this loop, I didn't even wake up in the patrol car.

Instead, I was still in the hospital lobby, in the same spot where I'd just died. My best guess was that the crystal was involved somehow.

However it happened, it might explain why Jon and Nia had been missing from the car.

Because I spawned so close, I was able to stop Maebe from being mauled by the Slender Hopper. Thankfully I'd survived without taking life-threatening damage, although my right hand and foot were both throbbing. But, if Nia was back in the car with that creature...

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Maebe had called Slender Hopper a demon; presumably, that was as accurate as calling it a monster. The labels were a bit reductionist, though, and 'demon' carried more implications than I liked.

Giving them more descriptive names would help me avoid making assumptions I shouldn't. Slender Hopper was an asshole and deserved to be killed with fire, but so far as I knew, it didn't have Satan's contact info.

Thinking about all the shit that had happened in such a short time, my time loop theory did resolve some questions, just not as many as I'd like. For one, things weren't identical in each 'loop,' just similar. It was a starting point, though, as was labeling the strange new creatures. The labels and theory were tools to begin making sense of this strange new reality, but I couldn't forget they were incomplete.

All I knew was that the previous events felt real, but I hoped they weren't.

I wasn't sure if Nia was in the patrol car. If she was, I wasn't sure she'd be alive. And if she wasn't, I wasn't sure what that would mean. Even if this was some kind of time loop, there was still the question of how. Was this some kind of Purgatory, where I was meant to learn a lesson? Was reality, instead, breaking down, so I was slipping through possible realities as the universe collapsed around me? Was our reality just an ancestor simulation glitching out? Time loops are a staple of science fiction, so I had more theories than answers.

I knew I was trying to distract myself from the reality looming ahead.

I've died three times now. Is there a limit? A cost? I asked myself as I approached the car, already knowing one cost.

Blood was on the window.

The car was still.

A small, unmoving hand rested against the glass.

My heart clenched, and I couldn't make myself open the door or take a closer look through the window. I had one of my answers.

I kept my head down and opened the front door instead, reaching in to grab my bag. I could smell the tang of her blood, her death, and I gagged. I guess that's a canine nose for you.

I'm sorry, I thought, hesitating in the driver's seat. I hadn't been there to open the door for her; she would have been stuck in the back with the demon. Trapped and alone. Her only chance would have been getting it into the vortex before it did too much damage.

I'm sorry, Nia I thought again, not looking back as I stood and walked back toward the hospital. I didn't want to consider how I might fix this. Even if it might restart the loop, I didn't want to die again.

Hang on, Jon. Please don't die.

I walked back into the lobby, my heart heavy. Maebe was gone, which wasn't much of a surprise. I wouldn't have waited to see if the werewolf came back to eat me, either. Most likely, I was just another demon to her.

I walked up to the desk, and my heartbeat picked up. Twice now, I'd peered over it to see something horrific.

This time it was just the unmoving body of the "demon" bug, Slender Hopper. Curiously, the hunger I'd felt for the crystal inside its head was gone.

I looked closer at the mess, it was gross, but at least it wasn't scarring. The head, which was mostly eye, had been dug into. Where the crystal had been, there was now only goop.

Suspicious. And not my job, I told myself.

There was a map on the wall behind the desk, and I peered at it. If Jon had entered the hospital with Nia, he would probably bring her to her mom—if for no other reason than Alice wasn't Nia's guardian. The thing was, Jon apparently hadn't entered the hospital with Nia. Or he might have, and then maybe he got stuck there like I did. If he "respawned," for lack of a better word, somewhere else, he could be anywhere in town. What would that even look like? Maybe my sudden appearance on the lobby floor was as much to blame for Maebe's fear as my monstrous form.

Looking at the map, I realized I was closer to the surgery wing than the chapel. The entrance I'd used opened onto a second-floor lobby. It seemed like this floor was packed. To the left were rooms for day surgery and the maternal ward. The ICU and ER were to the right, and both hallways circled around to several Operating rooms. The chapel was down a floor and closer to the middle of the building. The path wasn't super straight, either. I'd have to take a circuitous route just to get to some elevators.

Neither hallway was direct, but going right would be a slightly quicker path to the elevators and the chapel. I still had my mask, but my cape had been used as bandages. I'd recovered my backpack and had tended wounds. Hopefully, it would be enough to curb any 'kill it with fire' panic.

At first, my worry seemed needless. The hospital was quiet. It shouldn't be a surprise; nobody would have had a better chance at escaping than the people in this building. Maebe was an oddity in that regard; I had to wonder if Nia had any family left in the building. If not, then where was Jon?

I hadn't passed more than the first turn before I heard a scuff of rubber on the floor behind me. I jumped, startled, and began to turn around—when a bag was dropped over my head. I flailed but fell and hit the ground without managing to brace myself or even make contact with my assailant.

Before I could orient myself, hands grabbed my arms and flipped me onto my back. I could hear the hissing of gas, and the air inside the hood tasted sweet. Then the world started to turn funny, literally. I felt good and started shaking with mute laughter as I wondered why my heart was racing so fast.

I'd been on laughing gas before, and I was pretty sure that's what this was. In seconds, I became extremely unconcerned about anything.

I let myself be pulled to my feet as my mouth split into a silly grin, and my captors led me away with the sack still on my head. I found it all hilarious. I didn't even fight them as they dragged me along, but I couldn't stop the silent laughter that shook my shoulders. If this was Nitrous, it was the good stuff. That or being a werewolf made it hit particularly hard; either way, I was blitzed.

I lost a few minutes there thinking about the ridiculousness of my new reality. High off my gourd, I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was being led. I was pretty sure we used an elevator at one point, but I didn't know if we went up or down. The whole time neither escort spoke a word. I assumed they were trying to be intimidating, but nothing could shake my wolfy, drug-induced grin.

Three mutes walk down a hallway; what's the punchline?